Introduction

"Grant me the courage to change the things that I
can,
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
and the wisdom to know the difference."
-Serenity Prayer

Ever since St. Thomas More wrote 'Utopia', which can be an
allusion to either 'Outopia' (no-place), 'Eutopia' (the good
place), or both, the word has often been associated with the
unattainable, the impossible dream. And when one considers
that More's own vision included both slavery and the death
penalty one might be happy not to live in his utopia -or even
next door.

The Bolshevik dream of a communist and stateless society
(that never emerged) was another sort of utopian quest yet,
despite establishing a certain amount of economic equality,
it resulted in a nightmare for many a soul who lived under
its yoke. And is not capitalism itself, with 'the American
Dream' as its ultimate promise, also a utopian myth of sorts?
For we are told, in a grand quixotic challenge to basic mathematics,
that all people have a chance of becoming a part of the wealthy
minority.

The truth is that a third of the world earns about 90% of
the world's income. That leaves the other two thirds of the
people to fight amongst themselves for the remaining 10% and
the result is a nightmare that equals its Soviet counterpart
in sheer brutality.

People have tried, and are still trying, to create free and
egalitarian alternatives. They have demonstrated that a wide
variety of community structure is possible. Still others have
created partial-utopias based upon one or two aspects of social
life. Initiatives such as organic farming, rehabilitation
programs, community currencies, worker run co-ops, alternative
schooling have all come from people who have helped us see
new possibilities that are available to us here and now. Their
successes and shortcomings can give us insight as we continue
our journey towards a better society for all. Through their
example we can see that utopianism may turn out to be a journey
in itself rather than a final destination point. A way to
move through rather than a place to move to.

This Essay

"Which or whose Utopia? The kind of those involved,
of course. Many different kinds."
-Karl Hess, Community Technology

"We want a world in which there are many worlds,
a world in which our world, and the worlds of others will
fit: a world in which we are heard, but as one of many voices."
-Zapatistas

This utopian vision is not a singular vision but a vision
that has space for many visions. It is not a vision of a perfect
world, but rather a vision of a possible world. One of many
possibilities. It depicts a world that is beautiful and harmonious,
yet strange and chaotic. A world where the answers are not
given to us but have to be continually created by us. For
the challenges, like the questions, never end.

The intent here is not to draw a complete map of a utopian
world, rather it is to take a blurry snapshot of an alternative
world in motion. The world described herein is, in many ways,
not so different than the world as it is. Unlike many utopian
dreams, this vision does not require a change in human character,
only a change in human organization and the democratization
of institutions. It involves projects and visions that are
taking place here and now in the world we live in. It involves
concrete possibilities within our reach.

The links provided within this essay are portals to other
worlds. Real worlds in real-time. These worlds that hide amongst
words are steps - steps to the world of greater possibilities,
to your dreams, to the utopian scenario you're about to read,
to anyone's hope for a better world. What determines whether
or not these worlds are ever attained or to what degree they
are attained depends on one factor: what you are willing to
do to make it happen.

-T.R.O.Y. 2001

January 12, 2002 note:

This essay was completed in the wee hours of September
1, 2001. It be-gins with the fall of America and capitalism.
Ten days after the essay was sent off came the unexpected
tragedy of September 11th. It was, in a sense, a multiple
tragedy. First, the horrible attack against American civilians
where both military and civilian locations were targeted,
followed by the horrible attacks on Afghani civilians where
mosques, hospitals, villages and storage depots were bombed
as well as military locations, and, in the midst of all this,
civil rights across the world came under attack and the mass
movement which brought hundreds of thousands of protestors
against the G-8 meeting in Genoa, July 2001 became stifled.

I have made minor changes in this essay since then but
nothing relating to Sept. 11. The post-Sept.11 world has been
scared and scarred but it does not appear to be fundamentally
different than the pre-Sept. 11 world. In fact, it seems to
be more of the same.

Lao Tzu apparently sensed the same thing in China 2,500
years ago when he wrote in the Tao Te Ching:

"When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born."

It´s the end of the history as we know it!

"The commodity description of labor, land, and money
is entirely ficti-tious. Nevertheless, it is with the help
of this fiction that the actual markets for land, labor, and
money are organized."
-Karl Polanyi

"People are the experts; they know what it is they
need. It's just that nobody listens."
-Jean Trickey

Another World is Possible

Nobody saw it coming. Few thought it possible. And yet it
happened. It seemed to be sparked by a similar spirit to the
one that had brought about the end of the Soviet Empire in
1989. After little more than a decade of free market dominance
spearheaded by the United States and powerful transnational
corporations it was capitalism's turn. The Great Fall of Capitalism
came nearly as suddenly as its Iron Curtain counterpart. The
very market of hypercapitalism got a global aneurysm and it
imploded. When the international economic collapse came about
in 2007, national governments, bureaucratic armies, and state
institutions were ill-prepared for the chaos that ensued.
Their authority suddenly vanished.

Like the symbolic vandalism of the Argentinian parliament
in late 2001, people walked into the halls of power -not to
take them over- but to spit in them. Corporate leaders and
corrupt politicians could no longer sway the public mind with
empty promises and the people had to look else-where as they
sought to fill their basic needs.

It was necessary to find new ways of organizing society and,
ultimately, the power of local communities overcame the brutality
of bullets and the persuasion of profit-steered organizations.
While the former centers of power quickly disintegrated, local
organizations and networks had to fill the vacuum that was
left in its wake. There was an inevitable power struggle between
the haves and the have-nots, between those who had power and
those who lacked it but, as the rules for the game were suddenly
changed, the former underdogs gained the upperhand.

Who were the underdogs? What was the power struggle about?
Kevin Danaher, in the book "Democratizing the Global
Economy" put it like this: "The mass media talk
about globalization as if it were a unified, allencompassing
entity. But there are two kinds of globalization: elite globalization
and grassroots globalization. The top-down globalization promoted
by the big corporations is characterized by a constant drive
to maximize profits...people are encouraged to pursue an unsustainable
pattern of resource consumption; and social inequality has
reached gro-tesque proportions.

In the face of this predatory type of globalization, there
is another kind of globalization being forged; a globalization
that reaffirms the primacy of the ethical principles that
form the foundation of true democracy: equality, freedom,
participation, human diversity, and solidarity. This grassroots
movement is made up of many large movements: the fair trade
movements, microlending networks, the movement for social
and ecological labeling, sister cities and sister schools,
trade union solidarity across borders, and many others."1

It was these socially active groups who, through their person-to-person
contact across the world, developed counter-institutional
networks that sowed the seeds for future forms of organization.

Political organization

"Civilizing capitalism will only be possible globally,
if at all."
-Elmar Altvater

The Global Alliance

The Global Alliance (GA), is the name given to what arose
from the pact forged between the World Social Forum www.worldsocialforum.org,
Peoples Global Action www.agp.org, and other umbrella organizations
and institutions as they gathered up the remains of the United
Nations. Many grassroots organizations participated and structural
advice on the new alliance came from groups such as the Campaign
for a More Democratic United Nations www.oneworld.org/camdun.

The GA came to provide a much-needed stability for the new
structure of worldwide interaction and cooperation. All decision-making
is now made through direct democracy wherein all participants
engage themselves as equal members in a system of rotation
that enables a minimum of bureaucracy.

Furthermore, it has maintained, from the very start, a very
broad mem-bership policy. The GA allows for the creation and
recognition of new nations and new 'states' according to a
very basic criteria:

3) that it sees to the provision of the needs and welfare
of its membership.

Under these guidelines, nearly any community or group of
communities has the possibility to be recognized as an autonomous
entity.

Peacekeeping forces, comprised of GA members, are used no
more often today than they were during the days of the United
Nations and when they are used the emphasis is decidedly on
dialogue and peaceful conflict-resolution. All parties are
brought into dialogue and not, as was the case in Somalia
1992-95, only those parties who have military or economic
power. Internal grassroots organizations, cooperatives, clan/tribal
leaders, and cultural consultants as well as non-partisan
mediators from outside the area are taken in. It is through
the continual networking that goes on in today's direct democratic
process that enables an early warning of the build-up of tensions
to be quickly addressed. Focus is thus more on pre-conflict
resolution rather than the direct use of peacekeeping forces.

Immediately after the Great Fall disarmament became a top
priority. If any sort of global security was to be established,
it had to be free of the threat of military power and large
scale war. The achievements of a uni-versal ban on nuclear
weapons followed by a ban on national armies were major victories.
The model of Costa Rica which hadn't had an army in ages proved
to be the shining example which everyone else followed. As
the bans were simultaneous and universal there was little
room for the military to protest. And as this coincided with
the collapse of profit-oriented economy there was hardly any
economic incentive to maintain military power and the arms
industry.
Previously established groups like the Centre for Alternative
Industrial and Technological Systems (CAITS) www.shef.ac.uk/~is/caits/caits.html
provided support in the transitiion from a war-based industry
to a peace-based industry.

Furthermore the GA, unlike the UN is neither dominated by
nor dependent upon the United States nor does it include any
sort of permanent Security Council membership as the UN once
did. Direct democracy ensures that the voice of the GA is
that of the people of the world and not merely certain heads
of state.

Community Networks

"...They had worker's patrols instead of police...There
was no unem-ployment, and the price of living was still extremely
low; you saw very few beggars ...Above all, there was a belief
in the revolution and the future, a feeling of having suddenly
emerged into an era of equality and freedom. Human beings
were trying to behave as human beings and not as cogs in the
capitalist machine... I was breathing the air of equality..."
-George Orwell (describing what he saw in Catalonia, Spain
in Decem-ber 1936)

The new form of organization turned out to be grounded in
grassroots communities. The communities are largely centered
around common principles and/or cultural associations. They
can be based upon common beliefs, a common trade, a common
jobsite, a common neighborhood, a common language etc. A community
can also be formed out from an apartment complex, neighborhood
area, or plot of land. People are free to choose as to which
community they wish to be associated but are limited to one
official choice through which their democratic representation
takes place.

These communities then coordinate themselves into Community
Net-works (or Networks for short). Each Network consists of
a specific geographic boundary and anywhere from small rural
collectives of 100 members to bustling metropolises with over
1 million members. Currently, the Community Networks account
for the predominant form of autonomous unit in modern-day
society. Community Networks are, quite simply, networks of
communities where the basic regulations for the local society
are determined.

Networks function as mini-versions of countries and are granted
recogni-tion status equal to that of traditional countries
in the Global Alliance based, like traditional countries,
upon number of members. Members of the communities are thereby
accountable to the Network and each Net-work is, in turn,
accountable to the Global Alliance.

The nation-state is, for the most part, gone and in its wake
are thousands upon thousands of Networks linked together into
various formal and informal alliances. Some areas, however,
have chosen to maintain the traditional nation-state structure.
These countries are then granted the same representation within
the GA as the Community Networks.

Though Community Network is the formal name, it is possible
for a single community to register itself as a Network if
it is able to fill the basic requirements for self-sustainability
and self-governance. What they gain in autonomy, however,
they may lose in social, cultural, and eco-nomic variety.
The larger Community Networks often consist of hun-dreds of
small communities.

These Networks and their subsequent subdivisions have a wide
variety of internal structures from consensus-based anarchy
to hierarchical, from religious scripture-guided collectives
to majority-based democratic rule. The democratic basis for
granting autonomy has ensured that people across the world
who have been struggling for centuries for democratic self-determination,
from the Kurds to the Oglala Lakotas have finally heard their
cries answered. In whichever case, the Networks operate on
the basis of self-sustainability creating whatever they need
for themselves and trading for whatever they can't create.

A final form of organization is that of nomadic communities.
These groups form their own Community Network, one that is
not formed out from a specific geographic area as is the normal
procedure. These people include sailors, circus artists, transportation
workers, musicians, Romani, performance groups, hunters &
gatherers, and so on.

An odd little development along the way has been the prevalence
of micro-nations www.micro-nations.org
who often exist as mini-nations within nations. Whereas they
were previously reserved for eccentric artists and activists
they have become a common sight at international gatherings
with their flamboyant style of dress and preposterous rituals.

GA and democracy

"Development must be decentralized in order to involve
communities in formulating and implementing the decisions
and programs that affect their lives. Such a decentralization
need not conflict with a global system and strategy, but would
in fact ensure that development processes are adapted to the
planet's rich cultural, geographic, and ecological diversity."
-Bahá'í International Community Earth Charter

By the year 2012 the GA had achieved a stable membership
of approximately 25,000 autonomous entities representing more
than 6 billion people. And when the GA celebrated five years
of cooperation during the same year the mood was festive.
It was Porto Alegre's turn to host the conference and it served
as a sharp contrast to the tense atmosphere surrounding many
of the large political-economic meetings in the years before
the Great Fall. Whereas cities like Washington D.C., Québec
City, and Genoa were made to look like police states in which
both taxpayers and democracy itself paid high prices, Porto
Alegre 2012 was a city with hardly a police in sight.

Networks are equally represented according to population.
Delegations reflect both the numerical proportion of their
constituency as well their cultural and political diversity.
Often this mix is attained in a single delegate, someone who
is appointed by the communities, not for their own personal
views but for their ability to relay the views of others.
Each delegate is appointed by their Community Network and
serves a maximum 6 year term with the possibility for instant
recall by their respective Network.

The Gathering, as it is called, begins informally with a
series of debates, workshops, seminars, panel discussions,
performances, concerts and festivity. The informal context
allows delegates to meet each other on a purely human scale
before they begin their dialogues.

This dialogue period is, in itself, an extension of the sort
of discussions and planning that occur via the Internet discussion
groups prior to the actual Gathering. It is during the period
of Internet discussion that suggested proposals are sent in
and by the time each delegate arrives they have each received
an entire list of all the proposals that are to be discussed
when the GA is in session. Since the matters being discussed
have already been talked about for a long time in advance,
the issues have had time to reach the entire membership behind
each delegate and are therefore as democratic as possible.
As this method varies little from the pre-vious standard of
'motions', the change from before the Fall has more do with
who participates rather than how they do it.

Then follows a period of 30 mini-assemblies of less than
a thousand delegates each. These assemblies meet over a period
of days and come to specific proposals on the basis of 2/3
majority rule. If there is any con-tingent radically opposed
to a motion then the issue is taken up, reexamined and a compromise
or alternative approach is attempted before a final proposal
is formulated.

Though the decision is made by vote, the goal is, in each
case, to find solutions that are satisfactory to all. Hence
these meetings are mediated by several non-partisan facilitators
elected by the assembly whose role is to simply ensure a spirit
of cooperation and communication. It is not their place to
take sides on any issue but to ensure that all voices are
heard and all concerns are dealt with accordingly. At the
end of each day of discussion, each assembly is present with
information presented instantly electronically as to the developments
in the other assemblies.

There is a break for a few days as the seminars, debates
and festivities continue and it is also during this period
in which unresolved issues are further discussed and delegates
have the chance to consult with their communities back home
via Internet. Finally it concludes with a series of meetings
in which all delegates participate. The proposals are presented
and the final decisions are made through a voting process
with a required 3/4 majority rule.

The basic intent of the structure is that decisions shall
be handled as locally as possible and as few matters as possible
should be decided on the structural level of the GA. In most
cases, the GA is to provide a statement of general direction
and it is up to the more localized regions to interpret each
declaration as it pertains to them. In a few cases, such as
the decision to employ peacekeeping forces, a specific matter
requires very particular attention and, in the case of the
peacekeeping forces, a majority 4/5 majority rule is required
in order to achieve authorization for deployment.

The ideological base for the GA is that all decisions should
be made out from an general interest for the well-being of
all of the world's population and a worldwide ecological sustainability
and therefore it is essential that all decisions are made
by an overwhelming majority of the membership.

The Regional Alliance

"I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do,
and I understand."
-Kong Fu-Tse

There is no blueprint for social change. Most of it has to
be learned as one goes along. And in this case, as there was
no clear plan from the beginning as to how to organize society,
such learning became an immediate necessity. Decisions were
therefore made according to the needs that arose.

As there became a discrepancy between the Global Alliance
and the global masses that it represented, the need arose
quite early on to have an intermediary organization that could
fill the gap and address the more specific needs of each region.
Thus, the Regional Alliance was born and was introduced as
part of the Treaty of Global Promise in 2010 as a means to
facilitate the direct democracy of the GA and its membership
-in other words, to answer to, not preside over, the needs
of the various Networks according to their regional location.

The Regional Alliances, of which there are 23 across the
world (i.e. East Asia, Eurasia, West Europe, Mediterranean,
Central Africa, South India, etc...), have specific boundaries
that were drawn up by the various Net-works according to continental
location.

Regional Alliances have several functions. First, they act
as custodians of the decisions made by the Networks via the
GA. Secondly, they help meditate inter-Network conflict and
dialogue. Thirdly, they administer and regulate regional economy.

Regional Alliances consist of direct proportional representation
of the state or Network membership. The positions are rotational
so that each community is enabled to participate equally.
As the decisions made at the GA level are usually not specific,
it is up to the communities that comprise the Regional Alliance
to decide for themselves how to best implement those goals.

One such example is the distribution of material wealth.
The GA has agreed upon certain principles, such as land that
is not lived on cannot be owned but is a shared inheritance
and that all natural and human resources belong to all people
equally. That much is clear. Yet it has been somewhat of an
open question as to exactly how resources should distributed,
where land boundaries should be drawn and so on.

Economic organization

"Gain by the loss of another is not profitable in the
end."
-Inayat Khan

Macro-Economy

In addition to its political functions, the GA is in charge
of the global currency, the TERRA, www.transaction.net/money/book
which has its origins in a campaign initiated by Bernard Lietaer.
All banks in the tradi-tional sense have been eliminated.
After the market economy collapsed, trade and exchange shifted,
out of necessity, to a resource-based economy. The very concept
of interest was abandoned in favor of a more democratic and
realistic approach to economic organization.

The TERRA currency, which is used for inter-Network trading
via Re-gional Alliances, hinders the acquisition of monetary
profit. The cur-rency, which exists not in cash form but only
electronically via accounts, has a negative interest attached
to it (similar to the concept launched by the Argentinean
economist Silvio Gesell). The principle is quite simple: that
which collects dust should not collect interest - rather like
mold on an apple, stored wealth loses -not gains- value as
time goes on.

Recognizing that transcontinental exchange between countries
is not the same thing as buying groceries at the local market,
the TERRA is designed exclusively for institutional use. It
is not used by individuals for personal consumption, rather
it is used to facilitate global trade between separate regions.

Under capitalism interest helped contribute to an environment
of false growth, massive debt, and instability. Negative interest,
as applied through the TERRA currency, has the opposite effect
-it reflects genuine growth, provides independence, and ensures
stability. Negative interest encourages long-term investment
as opposed to short-term investment. Whereas the old economy
centralized wealth into the hands of those that had it, the
TERRA system discourages wealth concentration stimulating
the owners of the TERRA to invest the currency in real goods
and material that grow in value throughout time.

In the market economy the structures were set up to compel
people to make decisions based on profit. Now that the structures
have changed, so have the decisions. The TERRA system, in
contrast to the old economy, encourages cooperation as opposed
to competition, it allows for mutual aid as opposed to hoarding.

The logic of the market economy enabled people to earn more
money through its disuse (collecting interest), planned obsolescence
(low quality products), competing standards, and the manufacture
of needs and creation of dependency. The new economy thereby
encourages (via negative interest) the use of money, the development
of quality products (a return to craftsmanship), and reflects
more accurately the actual trade that is occurring (that is,
the storage of 100 tons of wheat is just that -storage- and
storage has a cost). Attempts to hoard material wealth in
this sense result, not in a profit, but in a loss. Thus it
becomes more 'profitable' to invest in a local farm who can
supply raw goods at a later point in time.

The GA simultaneously regulates trade in a similar manner
to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yet while the WTO eliminated
anything, including environmental protection laws, that was
considered to be a hinder to free trade, the GA view, on the
other hand, is that anything that has not been proven safe
to the environment or human and animal wel-fare is declared
to be a trade barrier.
Corporations and co-ops coexist in the modern world with the
major difference today being that corporations no longer have
the legal status of an individual like they had in the old
economy. Corporations, and the people who run them, are accountable
for their actions. And in accordance to the prohibition on
land ownership there is a similar ban on media ownership in
foreign territory. That is, a person or corporation in one
Network cannot own media in another. The fact that much of
the media today occurs via Internet alleviates the tendency
towards concentration of media power.

Independent media is thriving like never before via grassroots
organizations like Indymedia www.indymedia.org
and the micro-broadcasting movement www.radio4all.org
as well as public access television and democratically oriented
stations like Worldlink www.worldlinktv.com
which enable ordinary people to participate in the media and
the dissemination of information.

Furthermore, the media, like industrial plants, can be charged
with severe fines if they are found to be polluting the environment
in violation of established codes. Whereas industry can be
penalized for polluting the physical environment, the media
can penalized for polluting the mental environment. That is,
any media with a readership over a certain number is bound
by certain codes such as: non-partisanship, gender equality,
limited ad sales, source information and the like.

Loans and Taxes

"The world has enough for everyone's need but not
for everyone's greed."
Mahatma Ghandi

Money, loans, taxes, and government financing were previously
a com-plicated matter. In the New World Disorder things have
become notably simpler. Previously money was created by central
banks who in turn distributed it to private banks who both
created their own money (credit loans) as well as distributed
the money to the general populace who in turn paid a chunk
of it to the government who in turn redistributed it back
to the people via government institutions, state and local
governments, and public welfare. And that is without even
mentioning the stock market. This sort of set-up enabled a
massive bureaucracy and a tiny elite who made alot of money
for themselves while simultaneously causing a whole lot of
headaches and complications for everyone else.

Under the new system, the middlemen (the banks) get cut out
of the picture. The government, which has been replaced by
direct democracy and a system of rotation, creates money directly
and no longer has to either depend upon banks nor does it
collect taxes from citizens. Since money is no more than a
representation for the allocation of resources, it is only
a matter of dividing it up between the members of society.
Thus, the GA is able to 'print' as much TERRA currency as
it needed to fund whatever project is necessary. Likewise
the Regional Alliances can do the same with their Aqua currencies
(see section on Eco-centric Cur-rency).

When loan has to be made, it is made without interest in
the same sort of spirit as the JAK banks of Scandinavia www.jak.se.

Micro-Economy

When the traditional economy collapsed the alternative economies
sky-rocketed. A few countries were well prepared. Surprisingly,
Switzerland was among these. Despite the fact that Switzerland
had been notorious for its world famous bank accounts, it
also held a secret security against the failure of the free
market economy. It is a barter system call WIR that started
in 1934 and operates to this day. In 1999 it had 65,000 corporate
members. And in a country the size of Switzerland it proved
to be more than sufficient.

Nowadays each Network or nation is responsible for the creation
of its own local tradebased economy. Such emphasis upon the
local area compels people to take more responsibility for
their region. One's own home is no longer a commodity but
something very personal that is meant to be cared for rather
than merely used.

Those communities that do not create their own currency usually
rely on a simpler approach akin to the 'gift economy' of indigenous
peoples. After all, the idea of a currency is to facilitate
exchange. It is a way of symbolizing a trade that has occurred.
In communities where goods are shared freely or where the
emphasis is placed upon 'giving' as opposed to 'getting',
there is little point in having a currency.

The Creation and Distribution of Wealth

"Nothing in the world is more valuable than every
moment of your life."
Inayat Khan

With the demise of the market economy went an awful lot of
baggage that was attached to it. A wide array of social institutions
either fazed out or became greatly reduced. This includes
a long list from the casino industry to the advertising industry,
insurance companies to the drug trade, from cash crop dependency
to the entertainment and media industry. It was as if the
hysterical rat race came to a screeching stop and people got
to feel, as if for the first time, what life could really
look like if everyone stopped running. Climbing the ladder
of success suddenly became irrelevant in a world where the
most successful were now the least successful. The golden
calf of profit became seen for what it was: a false idol with
a false promise of a better life. Wealth has come to be defined
more out from what people have in their hearts and their heads
rather than what they have in their wallets.

This new revelation (for some) and sudden shift of priorities
freed up alot of human energy, time, and natural resources
to be used in other areas such as developing alternative/ecological
housing, alternative medicine, crisis aid, strategies against
deforestation and soil erosion, medical research, renewable
energy, energy efficiency, literacy programs, permaculture,
ecologizing existing products, conflictresolution, and so
on. Sustainable abundance became attainable in the immediate
future through the reorganization of work and distribution
of resources.

In the 1990's the world military expenditures were so high
that they were annually costing the planet ten times the cost
of what it would have taken to provide clean running water,
eliminate starvation and malnutrition, and provide adequate
shelter and health care to everyone in need across the globe.

Now that all people have an equal representation in the GA
the ultimate decision has been to distribute the wealth of
the world both equally and ecologically. This resulted with
the primary distribution of basic material goods according
to the needs of every man, woman, and child on the planet
allowing each Community Network to be able to provide a very
basic standard of living for each of its members.

The logistics of this distribution entailed the establishment
of clean drinking water to those areas that did not have it,
basic electricity, basic medical care, basic Internet access
(for democratic purposes), and other essential infrastructures
such as the initiation of sustainable agriculture in areas
that needed it. On top of this a basic sum (Global Citizen's
Salary) was provided for minimum food requirements. The specific
financing of basic infrastructures across the world was regarded
as a collective global investment. This investment occurred
via direct material and service shipments and was terminated
when the goals were reached.

Now that these infrastructures have been achieved, all autonomous
areas are expected to more or less provide for themselves.
All that remains of the 'welfare system' is the basic sum
for food. This means that each Network has to make its own
internal decisions about how to organize the necessary work
to provide for the rest of its needs. This balance of distribution
of wealth and decentralization, welfare and independence has
proven to be a key factor in the success of Community Networks.

The Global Citizen's Salary and
Eco-centric Currency

The mechanism for distributing wealth was the establishment
of a Global Citizen's Salary which allots a basic payment
to all members in the Global Alliance. It is then up to each
Network to account for the internal distribution of these
payments.

As the TERRA currency is used only electronically and only
in order to fill the needs of major intercontinental and inter-Network
trade a new means had to be devised. In order to perform the
distribution of wealth a second form of currency was created.
That form is called the Aqua. It is not the currency itself
-only a type of currency. Each Regional Alliance has its own
name for their particular version. In the North West America
Alliance for example, it is called BREAD, it is SALT in Western
Europe and it is TADPOLES in the Polynesian Alliance.

That the names all have some connection to nature is probably
no coin-cidence. The Aqua is the first form of large scale
ecocentric currency ever devised. Whereas community currencies
are valid within their own Networks, the Aqua currency takes
the idea to the regional level.

The concept behind the Aqua is an effort to balance inter-Network
trade with a bit of bioregionalism in the mix. After all,
the inherent value of many goods tends to increase the farther
away it travels. "You can't sell ice to Eskimos"
is the old saying. Subsequently the Aqua form of cur-rency
was specifically devised to offset this effect while still
enabling trade between relatively distant Networks.

Whereas the TERRA currency decreases in value over time,
the Aqua currencies decrease in value over space. That is,
in a similar fashion to trade tariffs, the Aqua currencies
decrease slightly in potency the farther away from home that
they are used. Therefore, they have the most value when used
regionally or in directly neighboring areas. A system has
been set up whereby the Aqua maintains its full value within
50 kilometers of the regional borderline.

In this manner there are 'buffer' zones that prevent those
who live near the border from having to pay more for trading
with nearby neighbors who live across the borderline. After
the 50 km. buffer zone the Aqua loses value in accordance
to distance (approximately minus .1% per kilometer). Thus
a system is manifest wherein trade according to locality is
prioritized.

The concept is not as odd as it may sound. Many currencies
had a similar tradition in the old economy. For example, foreign
currencies like the German Deutschmark and the Swedish Crown
could be accepted by certain Danish businesses that lay near
the national borderlines. Yet these businesses often extracted
a small fee for accepting the neighboring currencies.

The Aqua form of currency is the major form of paper currency
today. It is used to trade primarily within each continental
boundary yet not between continents (with special reservations
made for islands).

In the market economy it made sense for Asians to manufacture
cheap toys to be shipped across the planet in order to be
briefly used by millions of North American children who would
quickly dispose of the low quality items and thus turn them
into tons of garbage burdening society with further economic
and environmental costs. Likewise, according to the principles
of free trade, it was common for countries in Africa and South
America to produce fruit to be packed and transported into
the northern hemisphere where they were sold cheaper than
locally produced fruits of similar quality. In fact, in several
clearly documented cases in recent years before the Fall,
people died of starvation in poor countries while plenty of
locally grown food was being exported to wealthy nations.

Through the implementation of the Aqua currency, all of these
things are now impossible. Locally grown food is consumed
locally or regionally. The same goes for toys, clothes, machinery,
etc.

International trade still occurs by means of the TERRA currency
but it is strictly reserved for large amounts of raw materials
and goods that can-not be produced regionally. Of course this
also means that things like bananas are extremely expensive
in places like Northern Europe. Yet it also means that workers
in Central America are no longer compelled to grow bananas
for foreigners while their own children go hungry. It also
means a safer, cleaner environment as excess transportation
has been cut dramatically.

The Aqua currency is also used as a medium between Networks
who trade in TERRA currency. Acting as a distributor of the
goods of the Network the Regional Alliance negotiates global
trade in TERRA while paying Networks in Aqua currency.

In the instances where neither of the three major forms of
currency fill peoples needs there are still other forms that
have developed. One is an electronic currency that circulates
as a global community currency addressing the needs of those
who offer global services such as web page design, translation,
consultation services and so on.

Others have created a sort of cultural currency based on
'art money' which, because it is art, has a value in and of
itself. This money is used to exchange small goods such as
collector's items on a global basis between individuals who
can pay in neither TERRA nor Aqua forms of currency.

Society in general

Voluntary Associations

In addition to the formal democratic structures that exist
are the myriad of voluntary associations that overlap social,
cultural, ethnic, and political boundaries. These associations
can revolve around an interest such as archeology, they can
be based on jobrelated developments such as the sharing of
technical information, they can be based on creative activity
such as sport clubs, or they can be based on cultural bonds
across political boundaries.

Many of these associations have grown out from some sort
of social activity that directly or indirectly relates to
the general democratic cli-mate of mutual aid and participatory
global citizenship. A large portion of these associations
deal with social or political questions. For example, The
Friends of the Earth www.foei.org
monitor treatment of the environment and technological developments
while MADRE www.madre.org
monitors the status of women amongst the various Networks.

With the virtual evaporation of advertising, activists involved
in Adbusters www.adbusters.org
use their skills in graphic design to create poster campaigns
for animal rights groups like People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals www.petaeurope.org
or media watchdogs like Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
www.fair.org.

Alot of energy is put into preventing ethnic hostilities
from flaring up and everyone from the Baha'i Faith www.bahai.org
to the UK-based Searchlight www.searchlightmagazine.com
seems to be involved in various ways. The memories of what
happened in Rwanda, Bosnia, Palestine, and Albania are still
fresh in people´s minds so alot of energy is laid in
the area of inter-Network/inter-cultural relations and it
has paid off.

Some of the work has developed from programs initiated by
the Quakers www.afsc.org/pindx/conres.htm
whereas other work takes non-traditional approaches such as
the use of theatre in resolving conflict such as those according
to the model of Augusto Boal www.toplab.org. Large scale conflicts
have greatly diminished and Peace Brigades International www.peacebrigades.org
does not have to send out as many observers as they used to.

The world outside the Global Alliance

"The meaning of life is to struggle and to enjoy that
struggle."
George Lincoln Rockwell

Though the GA does represent more than 6 billion people via
direct democracy, there are still patches of the global population
who have chosen to remain outside of its membership.

Dissidents against direct democracy

The Old Worlders, people who try to cling onto a world that
no longer exists, make up a small but cranky minority. This
mixture of nationalists, old school capitalists, nostalgic
patriots, and fundamentalists allied themselves in a Federation
of National-States and attempted to recreate the sort of nation-state
structure that once dominated the planet. Being so few, (a
couple hundred million) in a world that is now run by more
than 6 billion people actively engaged in direct democracy,
means that they have very little influence upon world events
and, at most, manage to cause a bit of hassle at the local
level.

In fact, it is ironic that some of these entities that call
themselves 'states' number only a few hundred individuals
and are dwarfed by neighboring Networks which number in the
tens of thousands. All the major industries are geared towards
the rest of the world and therefore they have neither the
economic nor technological capability of expressing more power
than they actually have in numbers.

Other dissidents are even smaller groups who operate as sects
with charismatic leaders isolated from the entire world. Some
of these manage to develop good relations with their neighbors
and thrive while others, completely intolerant of those outside
their own membership, have tended to gradually die out.

The Old World Economy

While traditional currency, such as the US dollar, was not
worth much more than toilet paper directly after the Great
Fall, it saw a slight upsurge in the year 2009 when the dissident
states consolidated themselves into the Federation. They attempted
to revive the use of traditional currency. Since there was
no functioning international banking system to regulate trade
they agreed to fix the exchange rates at the level they were
at prior to the Great Fall.

The biggest problem for them, however, is not the value of
the currencies towards each other nor the regulation of trade
amongst each other but the lack of currencyvalue (not to mention
trade) with the rest of the world. Any region that rejects
the platform of the Global Alliance is blacklisted from international
trade. The best that this motley crew of dissident states
can do is hope for sympathetic neighbors who are willing to
barter.

The Federation accounts for less than 10% of the world's
population and they are scattered across the globe. This is
a troubling fact for them. All the major industries operate
on the TERRA and Aqua systems. Since traditional currency
is invalid outside of the isolated regions of the Federation
the strength of the economies based on traditional currencies
deteriorated again after 2011.

Work, Insurance, Pension, & Child care

"Steel can be produced by little companies and it
can be produced by big companies- both using the same technology.
If there is a difference, it would be simply that the smaller
companies would be more likely to be inventive, innovative,
and vigorously competitive."
-Karl Hess, Community Technology

"Equality is not a matter of mathematics."
-Kibbutz resident

Some Networks call for up to 35 hours of work per week of
their mem-bers while others required only a bare minimum of
work hours in order to fulfill their basic needs. People have
more time now to focus on hobbies, sports, socializing, creative
activities, exploration, and so on. Without having rent to
pay every month, interest upon loans, and jobs that seem completely
meaningless, the demands of life are reduced to bare necessities
such as the creation, reparation, and maintenance of technology,
agriculture, mutual services, storage, decisionmaking, and
so on. A life of leisure for all has been established and
those who want to acquire more 'luxuries' have only to work
accordingly to achieve it.

People's time and labor are, for the most part, counted equally
so trading costs between Networks are established accordingly.
One hours work is generally worth one hours work with few
exceptions. A departure from this principle has occurred due
to practical requirements in some communities. Instead of
the principle "To each according to their need",
it has become "To each according to their work"
(with obvious exceptions for people who are unable to work).

How each community determines their work hours and conditions
is determined by themselves alone (providing it does not infringe
upon the GA guarantee for human welfare). One of the inspirational
models for worker-run industry is the Mondragón Cooperative
system www.mondragon.mcc.es
in the Basque area. Another sort of system that has proved
a helpful model is Barataria www.socsystem.org.uk,
a system for business bartering that started back in the 1990's.

To offset distaste for labor and fatigue it is quite common
for work structures to be set up so that each person is able
to engage in a balance of different types of labor. This also
helps balance people's inner lives as they perform a greater
variety of tasks. As was common amongst kibbutzim, workers
often perform both physical labor as well as mental labor
-sometimes in the same day. This policy is applied to delegates
as well. There are no fulltime politicians. All delegates
work in the community where they belong. There are, of course,
administrative jobs at all levels that are maintained in order
to guarantee organizational stability but the voice of the
people remains free of institutional bondage.

Since education, like all resources, became equally accessible
to all peo-ple the problem of paying back enormous study loans
suddenly vanished. In fact even the day-to-day living costs
are taken care of by the local community/Network. In a similar
fashion elderly and disabled persons are looked after. The
building of communities and Networks enables the sort of social
roots that once existed in primitive tribal societies to provide
for the needy, with a human -not a bureaucratic- helping hand.

All forms of dependence, whether they be education, child
care, sickness, etc... are addressed by a group of people
who know that they too will need the same sort of support
and that they too will find it within the very same community.

A major concern in the old economy was that a growing number
of eld-erly was to be cared for by a shrinking work force
and how this crisis could be resolved. Now that the matter
revolves around the mere allocation of available resources
and the profit motive is gone, the dilemma no longer exists.
For the ones to provide the answers to the questions are no
longer politicians with specific political interests, nor
companies or workers with an economic interest, but a community
of people who happen to have a direct social interest.

As money is no longer a scarce commodity but is a symbol
for the collective resources to be allocated, there is no
hinder for each community to share the necessary housing,
technology, medical equipment, and so on between themselves
in order to address whatever social needs arise. This includes
moments of crisis, war, and natural disaster in which all
communities and Networks send whatever aid they can.

The question is no longer one of financing but of organizing.
This means that a special disaster fund, not of money but
of raw materials, is established in all areas. Subsequently,
there is no need to seek special 'Disaster Area' status or
global media attention in order to receive support. When catastrophe
strikes the materials are available within the Regional Alliance
and the workers on duty (who consist of a rotating shift of
various Alliance members) organize immediate aid to the area
in need.

Land and Life

"People seem to be very loose and playful with each
other, as if they had endless time on their hands to explore
whatever possibilities might come up. ...a mighty boulevard
striking through the city down to the waterfront has become
a mall planted with thousands of trees. The "street"
itself, on which electric taxis, minibuses, and delivery carts
purr along, has shrunk to a two lane affair. The remaining
space, which is huge, is occupied by bicycle lanes, fountain
sculptures, kiosks, and absurd little gardens sur-rounded
by benches."
-Ernest Callenbach, Ecotopia

Land is regarded as no one's property. The old Swedish "Allemansrätt"
policy which guaranteed the rights of all people to journey
through and even camp upon private land (provided they respected
both the land and the owner's personal space) served as the
guideline for how to treat property in the new society. This
did not mean that people could not own landspace, only that
they can not own the land itself, nor can they own land that
they neither use nor live on.

Natural Reserves are of course still forbidden to live on
but all other land is open for people to claim as they see
fit. In the beginning there was quite a lot of disputes over
land use and land rights and which community had the right
to use which land but in the end the mediation committees
finally caught up with their workload and more cases are now
resolved than new ones arise.

The choice of land and method of claim has varied. Some communities
simply took over the neighborhood blocks where they lived.
The new rule of housing became a slogan coined by Muammar
Quaddafi: "The one who lives in a home is the one who
owns it". Squatting was now the rule and landlords became
a social construction whose day was done. Since many people
moved out of the cities there is more urban space available
than ever before and cities have sprung to life with all the
vacant lots transformed into gardens and art parks.

Nevertheless, some Networks were not content to take over
the remains of the old society but set out to build an entirely
new sort of society from the ground up. An early initiative
was the Venus Project www.thevenusproject.com
Social experiments like these created entirely new architecture
and city planning in order to manifest a new utopian life.
Others tried the approach exemplified by Twin Oaks www.twinoaks.org
and other communes www.thefec.org
or www.ic.org
including the trend in ecovillages www.gaia.org.
Still others followed the model of the ecoindustrial village
in Kalundborg, Denmark www.symbiosis.dk
where separate industries are made to complement each other,
saving resources and saving energy by having the material
(or energy) refuse from one building be used by another in
a symbiotic cycle.

Some communities have managed to create a blend of the two
variations. As each Network is, in a sense, its own country,
an amazingly rich variety of communities has sprouted up in
only a few years time. The new state of affairs seems to have
liberated, not only the people who previously lived in poverty,
but also those who once supposed themselves to be wealthy.

The fact that the people who live in the formerly 'wealthy'
sector of the planet now have less of a commercial variety
has not necessarily meant a lower standard of living -only
a different standard of living. As the world is so decentralized
now it is difficult to adequately describe the many different
approaches that individual communities have taken to this
change. The general theme though seems to be learning to enjoy
the benefits of simplicity and innovation.

Throughout the world one can see goats replace lawnmowers,
needle and thread replace sewing machines. Homemade pottery
and knitting replace habitual shopping while books, art, exploration,
theater, performances, storytelling, and guitars replace televisions.
Graffiti and public art replace ads and billboards. Plazas,
parks and squares replace malls. Games and sports, and manual
labor have replaced exercise gyms and the spectator-based
sport industry.

Travel and borders

Unlike the previous concept of 'nationality' which enabled
a citizen of one country to live in another country, members
of Community Net-works had to decide which community they
wanted to adhere to and then that was where they would live.
With the demise of the nation-state and the establishment
of smaller Community Networks the bureaucracy surrounding
issues of citizenship went along with it. Each Network now
decides for itself the conditions for membership acceptance,
change, expulsion, and so on. Some are more restrictive whereas
others have created open-exchange agreements that allow members
of various communities to travel, move, and live within those
selected Networks and without extensive bureaucracy.

Networks are aligned through a series of basic agreements
and their relationships are strengthened by various pacts,
economic treaties, me-diators, and special 'diplomats' referred
to as Social Bridges or, more simply, Bridges. The Bridges
are the members of each Network who maintain official ties
with neighboring Networks. There are also 'Butterflies' who
maintain ties with sister cities or sister Networks. The job
of the Butterfly is to facilitate social, economic, and political
ties with distant Networks and nations. Mixing work and pleasure
is strictly encouraged.
As agreed upon in the Global Alliance each Network is granted
3-7 dis-tant sister cities/Networks. Alot of this was made
possible with the sup-port of Sister Cities International
www.sister-cities.org and similar organizations who have been
doing this sort of work for years. Travel to these sister
city/Network connections is provided by the Regional Alliances
and each Network can decide for itself how to use that travel
time. The entire air travel industry is now run by the Regional
Alliances, not as a profit driven system but as a global resource
for all people.

Through the limitations of the sister-city pact, tourism
has become a greatly reduced fact of life. On the other hand,
alot more people are able to do it - not just those with money.
In addition, tourism has become exclusively reserved for the
sister communities. This means that the people who travel
develop special transcontinental bonds with both the people
whom they visit as well as the people whom they receive.

Though travel and transportation has been greatly diminished,
the telecommunication industry remained not only intact but
greatly strengthened by the Great Fall. As air travel, car
use, and shipping companies dwindled virtual conferencing,
telecommuting, and Internet media has bloomed like never before.

Technology and Scientific Development

In the days of the old economy it was possible for a government
to allocate billions of dollars to space programs that would
send huge chunks of hi-tech machinery -and occasionally people-
off into space while there were simultaneously millions of
people here on Earth who were dying for lack of clean water,
food, or basic medical care.

Such an extravagant waste of resource and disregard for human
life is unthinkable today. Yet now that the vast majority
of people´s needs are being met there is a growing interest
to start looking into the possibility of reinstating a space
program of some sort. These ideas however, -despite their
increasing popularity- still take a distant backseat to the
more pressing issues of the day such as ecological farming,
energyefficient devices, new vegetarian/vegan alternatives
to meat, biodegradable products, water purification, waste
control, transportation, medical research, robotic machinery
for hazardous jobs, toxic waste elimination, hi-tech diplomacy
and telecommunication. In fact, there happens to be a larger
interest in developing on-line interactive games than there
is in developing a new space program. The UFO clubs have waged
a pretty heavy campaign for reentering space but they have
had trouble arousing large scale interest.

Furthermore, technological development is a matter no longer
reserved for specialists but for students young and old. It
is a matter for all people, whether it is about ingenious
new ways of designing solar panels from tin cans or whether
it is kids innovating ever new uses for old washing machines
or discarded parts from refrigerators. Scientific education
for many, is integrated in the basic necessities of daily
life.

Formal education itself certainly takes place in classrooms
as it did in the 20th century yet the emphasis now is not
on careerism and the rote memorization of facts and figures,
rather it is on learning in many different ways. It is about
developing EQ as well as IQ. It is about communication, social
skills, respect, and critical thinking. It is about curiosity
and passion. It is about discovery, trial and error. And it
is about exploring the world of education through hands-on
experience.

Furthermore, science has become a highly localized art. Much
of the economic focus is now on bio-regionalism and there
is a large need to figure out new and better techniques for
transforming local resources into a wider range of uses. This
can mean turning hay into insulation blocks for housing or
creating selfcontained bacteriological toilets that function
completely independent of the traditional sewage system. It
can involve the creation of small ecological chemical factories
or bicycles made from leftover building materials. Nevertheless,
some technologies are used almost all over the world such
as the technique for turning local garbage into fuel via the
construction of neighborhood methanol plants.(2)

(2) Ideas and innovations are spread across the globe by
means of organizations like the Centre for Alternative Technology
www.cat.org.uk and Internet-based idea exchanges such as the
Global Ideas Bank. www.globalideasbank.org

Police and Defense

"You have a very complicated legal system. It is not
that way with my people. I have always thought that you had
so many laws because you were a lawless people. Why else would
you have so many laws?"
-Native American referring to the United States

Despite the large outcry against armies and weapons of mass
destruction people of the world initially opted to treat guns
as a temporary necessity in order to ensure stability. In
the absence of a strong police state people largely police
themselves taking turns in patrolling their communities. The
widespread presence of guns however meant that more than one
family fight turned into a bloodbath and some small groups
were found to be hoarding weapons. At the GA Gathering in
Bangalore in 2010 Community Networks across the world agreed
to impose universal firarm regulations, restricting usage
to licensed owners and having most firearms stored away and
guarded under the authority of each Community Network.

The mobile phone system that was set up enables local people
to have simple easy access to whoever was on duty at the time.
Patrols usually carried no weapon at all. Rather, in the absence
of alot of work, people rely on numbers. Hence, patrols tend
to activate themselves with other interests while on duty.
They can involve themselves in innercity gardening or street
cleaning or games or just sitting at a café reading
a book. It doesn't really matter what they are doing as long
as they are easily accessible in case of emergency. And since
patrolling is a rotational duty all citizens take part -no
internal police cliques have been able to de-velop, no resentment
against police, and any accusations of brutality by an individual
on patrol is addressed by an independent counsel.

Occasionally roving gangs of mobs of gangsters try to take
over a community or steal its supplies and it is during these
rare occasions that the guns actually see the light of day.
The gangs, however, are usually nomadic groups of rugged individualists
who refuse to settle down into a Community Network and tend
to make quick hit-and-run attacks. Though they can cause quite
a stir when they come by, they pose no real threat to society.

Most crimes are prevented by three strong preventive factors:

1) The initiation of Networks enabled tight communities to
form which acts as both a protection against outside crime
as well as an insurance against internal crime.

2) The introduction of the Global Citizen's Salary and the
build-up of selfsustainable infrastructure largely eliminated
crimes rooted in poverty.

3) Since the drug trade was dependent upon the profit motive,
it (and alot of drug-associated crimes) was dramatically reduced
when the new economy was established. (Many communities grow
their own hemp but this rarely leads to any problems. In fact,
alcohol -which is still largely available- is a much greater
social dilemma and source of dispute. Drugs like heroin and
cocaine are nearly unheard of even in the areas where coca
and opium plants are grown).

In addition to these factors, assaults against women have
declined, in part, due to popular (and in some cases obligatory)
courses in mental self-realization and self-defense, gender
relations, communication skills, and anger management. This
has helped to balance out some of the previous inequalities
that occurred in conflicts between men and women both in and
outside of relationships.

As each Network decides for itself what sort of justice it
shall impose communities have been free to dream up their
own methods. Some have adopted techniques that resemble that
of the native Alaskans who settle all disputes (except murder)
with a song duel in which the two opponents hurl insults and
lampoons at each other in front of the community. Others have
a Council of Matrons as was used by the Iroquois Confederacy.
In fact, in the absence of proper financing for prisons, most
communities, like traditional 'primitive' societies, are obliged
to discover their own means of preventing and resolving conflict
as opposed to punishing it.

The less creative a community is or the more heterogeneous
it is, the more stringent methods are the methods that tend
to be used. Yet so long as it does not conflict with the by-laws
of the GA and the resolution of human rights, it is to be
permitted. Most communities try to rely heavily on the conflict
specialists and dispute mediators in order to arrive at decent
resolutions that appease all parties involved. Rather than
simply dealing with the matter at hand, the conflict specialists
often try to go deeper into what may be lying at the root
of the problem and address the cause rather than the symptom.

Criminal acts and Prisons

"Throw away industry and profit and there won't be
any thieves."
-Tao Te Ching

Though the New World Disorder certainly did not end crime
and anti-social behavior it did have a strong dampening effect.
Currently, the crime rate is far below that of what it once
was in the nineties. One might suppose that with the general
dismantlement of the prison industry, crime might have risen
yet that was not the case at all. It turns out that a large
number of people behind bars were there due to nonviolent
crimes (often convicted for doing things that are now completely
legal in certain Networks such as smoking marijuana), others
were wrongly convicted, and still others were serving time
for crimes committed as minors or for crimes which they had
long ago repented.

Now the prisoners that were released had a clear choice:
they could join a Community Network as responsible citizens,
they could join a dissident state and abide by their strict
rules, or they could join a nomadic gang of outlaws. Given
such a choice most chose to make an attempt at leading normal
lives often looking up former lovers or friends or following
fellow prisonmates in their quest for a new life in freedom.

A tradition soon developed among many Networks to tattoo
special markings on the backside of the hand of repeated troublemakers
in ac-cordance to the severity of the crime they were convicted
of and then, if the crime was severe enough, expel them from
the community. Though it continues, this practice is not encouraged
as it largely dumps the problem on everyone else. Occasionally
such people who get expelled end up finding a community where
they fit in and settle down but the general tendency is for
these people to become outcasts and end up either as wandering
hobos or as part of a gang of outlaws.

If severe crimes continue by any particular individual or
gang then the security forces of the Regional Alliance is
triggered into action. Like the local patrol duty, service
in the Alliance security force is rotational. Members are
taken from various Networks and undergo special training.
They are on duty, not to interfere with internal community
disputes, but rather to address serious large scale criminal
activity. This can even include the rare instances when certain
communities engage in hostile activity toward other communities.
Hijacking, hacking, sabotage, assassination, grand theft,
terrorism, are all under the jurisdiction of Alliance forces.

Often these problems stem from neighboring conflicts with
Federation members or terrorist activity sponsored by Federation
states. The engagement of community patrols and active role
of ordinary citizens enables regions to keep the level of
criminal activity by outlaw gangs down to a bare minimum.

When outlaws are captured by Regional Alliance forces they
are separated and each case is examined individually. A distinct
effort is made to avoid the pitfalls of the prison industry
in the Old World where prisons actually perpetuated crime
and increased the individual's tendency to identify themselves
as a criminal.

Modern facilities are not like the traditional prison system
but more like a highly structured mix between a hospital,
rehabilitation center, and job-site training in which each
person is given not only access to professional counseling,
but also trade opportunities. This may include various forms
of community service in which the individual can set about
learning a trade of their interest that may make them of particular
value to certain communities and enable them a better chance
at being accepted back in.

For those prisoners who have served their time and received
a public evaluation but have not found a Network or nation
who is willing to accept them, they are obliged to remain
in the rehabilitation facilities. Much support has come from
organizations that work around prisoners and the investigation
of alternatives.

This system is made possible by the fact that there are far
less prisoners today than there were before the Fall. The
number of prisoners that are in such a predicament today amount
to less than 1% of all of the people that were behind bars
in the year 2000. In fact the total number of prisoners today
is less than 10% of the number of pre-Fall prisoners with
about half of those being found in Federation states.

The death penalty is forbidden amongst all GA members. It
is, however, still a common practice amongst Federation members
and the issue has been a continual point of contention between
the two poles.

New Traditions and Social Codes

"Do not accept what you hear by report, do not accept
tradition, do not accept a statement because it is found in
our books, nor because it is in accord with your belief, nor
because it is the saying of your teacher...Be ye lamps unto
yourselves."
-Buddha

In the absence of traditional 'law and order' a plethora of
social codes and alternative traditions have popped up. Obviously
it is impossible to list even a small portion of the wide
range of codes but here are a few:

Treat others as they want to be treated. This has become
a modern version of "Do unto others as you want them
to do unto you." If someone wants to be left alone, let
them be alone. If they want food then let them eat. This requires
communication on both sides. For each person must be able
to both hear and respect the desires and boundaries on both
sides. This is where respect and self-respect come in.

Trash is dumped where trash is made. The idea of one country
sending their trash or toxic waste to another country is gone.
Each Network or nation is responsible for its own waste disposal.
This, in itself, has put a lot of pressure on communities
to diminish their consumption and minimize their non-organic,
non-biodegradable waste. Some Networks, especially those based
in the city, still rely on neighboring Networks to dispose
of their waste. This is not as problematic as it sounds. With
the introduction of the Global Citizen's Salary many cities
had their population nearly cut in half as people moved out
to the countryside.

Electricity Fast. Most Networks and nations celebrate the
newly acquired ecological lifestyle with an even greater cutback
upon personal luxury: electricity. Some Networks do it once
a month and hold bonfire celebrations and parties without
any electricity whereas others do it only once a year. The
insight is simple: sometimes it takes the loss of what little
one has to realize how much one actually does have.

Give of the heart and not the hand. Previously celebrations
such as birthdays and Christmas were, in the over-developed
nations, often surrounded by a sudden frenzy to buy presents
for one's loved ones. Nowadays, people tend to give non-material
gifts during these celebra-tions such as experiences, personal
services, or rituals of forgiveness. Material gifts are still
given occasionally but these are often hand-crafted and given
randomly throughout the year.

Communal guidelines3: some general rules of thumb for newly
organ-ized communities have been 1) the more people, the more
structure is needed 2) the less thoroughly members know and
understand each other, the more structure is needed and 3)
the less time members spend together the more structure that
is needed. Many groups had a lot of falling out in the beginnings
when people thought that too much structure would stifle the
community and that certain principles and values could be
taken for granted. Miscommunication, misunderstandings, and
a lack of experience in dealing with those issues caused a
few communities to learn the hard way.

More communal guidelines4. The second phase of new close-community
guidelines that have been learned go something like this:
1) Develop communication skills -this includes self-communication,
listening, and assertiveness 2) Respect the needs of all individuals
for differing amounts of personal time and space, etc...and
learn to comfortably express your own needs 3) Acknowledge
differences and conflicts and deal with them -preferably with
the help of a mediator and determine whether these differences
are destructive/exploitative or a potentially compatible diversity
4) Take personal time for walking, writing, meditation, music
or whatever helps calm your mind 5) Establish weekly meetings
for review and discussion for both internal matters as well
as global, local, and regional 6) Plan monthly retreats for
couples, families, parents, friends, individuals to get relaxed
time together 7) Live simply -the less one demands materially
the more one demands spiritually 8) Provide hospitality to
all 9) Create joint activities with neighboring communities
10) Plan ahead -figure out all of the communities needs and
determine well in advance how they will be achieved, who will
do what, back-up plans, and so on making sure that all members
are aware of the decisions 11) Set aside regular times to
participate as a group in a community service i.e. fixing
a street, building repair, etc... 12) Celebrate together -avoid
dogmatism, enjoy each other.

Declaration of Interdependence. One of the proposals that
came from the GA was that each Network, community, and nation
write their own 'Dec-laration of Interdependence'. There were
no further guidelines and the proposal was more of a general
suggestion than a requirement yet the vast majority of the
GA membership complied nonetheless and a tradition developed
to post the declaration at entry points.

With each group having written their own unique take on a
common theme it has become a trivial pursuit of travelers
to compare the various compositions. Examples: "We are
ecologically interdependent with the whole environment; we
are socially, culturally, and economically interdependent
with all of humanity; sustainability, in the context of this
interdependence, requires partnership, equity and balance
among all parties." Excerpt from the Declaration of Interdependence
by the World Congress of Architects, "We are the earth,
through the place and animals that nourish us. We are the
rains and the oceans that flow through our veins. We are the
breath of the forests of the land, and the plants of the sea.
We are human animals, related to all other life as descendants
of the firstborn cell ...We are learning from our mistakes,
we are mourning our vanished kin, and we now build a new politics
of hope... All this that we know and believe must now become
the foundation of the way we live. At this turning point in
our relationship with earth, we work for an evolu-tion: from
domination to partnership; from fragmentation to connection;
from insecurity to interdependence." Declaration of Interdependence,
David Suzuki Foundation

Burning Man. www.burningman.com
The Burning Man festival in the deserts of Nevada have not
only continued but have inspired similar projects across the
globe. The idea is simply to arrange space for self-organized
events, performances, music, and general chaos. A blend between
hi-tech and primitivism, anarchism and modern day paganism.

The Right Liveliehood Award www.rightlivelihood.se
Not only has the global Right Livelihood Award continued but
it has spread to include regional awards as well honoring
those who work on practical and ex-emplary solutions for real
problems facing the world.

Case stories

Tanya and Michael take a break from their rooftop gardening
and sit down in the shade with a glass of ice cold lemonade
in each hand. Michael picks up the yarn and starts knitting
on the sweater he's been working on while Tanya tells him
about her class in conflict-resolution and critical thinking.
In the middle of the conversation their daughter Amanda walks
in with a painting she made. "Beautiful, honey!"
says Tanya while Michael says "Hey, that's nice - where'd
you make that?"
"Down at the kid's corner." says Amanda in a casual
tone and walks back out with a subtle air of pride.

The 'kid's corner' is where the neighborhood kids gather
each day. Not actually a corner but a large park area where
there are activities organized each day by the community children's
group. Like many other services, the work with the kids is
rotational and usually the shifts operate around a neighborhood
basis keeping the adults as close as possible to the children's
home. They offer meals, rooms to rest or study, and a playground
and a wide range of adults and kids of all ages to look after
them. It's a general meeting ground for kids to come to after
school. And in no time at all Amanda is back down there.

Elisa Gomez Libertad, 41
Zapatista village
CA Regional Alliance

For Elisa, not much has changed since the Great Fall. The
most notable change is the feeling of security. There were
a few dissident military communities in the South such as
Sendero Luminoso and a few paramilitary groups who belonged
to the Federation of National-States but they posed no threat
at all to the Zapatista communities in Chiapas. The lack of
Mexican aircraft flying above as a threatening reminder as
to who has the most weapons, the lack of a mainstream media
that trickles through with distorted and hostile coverage
of their situation, the knowledge that her way of life was
now understood -or at least accepted- by the majority of the
planet, all these things helped her sleep better at night.
The plumbing system now works better, some new farming equipment
and solar panels have arrived, and they have recently gotten
a couple computers from La Peña Cultural Co-op in Berkeley
and mobile phones in the vil-lage. Such things have made life
a bit easier but it really doesn't change a whole lot for
her.

She had never been out of the country but when she came back
from the corn fields today she got word from Pedro who had
checked the communal e-mail, that the Regional Alliance has
allocated their village three plane tickets to West Europe
and Eurasia next year. This had not come as surprise however.
She knew about it for a while. The village had already talked
about it and agreed that she and two others will be making
the journey which will be a mix of business and pleasure.
She will be hosted by several West European/Eurasian Networks
whom she will be speaking to about the Zapatista way of life,
organization, history, Mayan culture and so on. She will also
be speaking about living the Simple Life. This is perhaps
the most inspirational part for the Europeans, some of whom
are still trying to grow accustomed to getting by on less.

After enduring decades of intense commercialism, careerism,
and pursuit of happiness via material gain, people in what
was once called 'the First World' are finding themselves lagging
behind in the mental resources needed to adapt to the new
circumstances. Put simply, they are going through withdrawal
symptoms ever since their addiction to materialism got suddenly
shut off and the euphoria of the 'revolution' has worn off.

Now they need coaching and support -people who can help them
calm down their material desires, increase their spiritual
insights, and readjust their expectations and perspective
of life. To do this they are importing storytellers, activists,
and ordinary workers from countries where people have been
living with less for millennia.

For the so-called 'Westerners' who have difficulty getting
used to the basic idea of living in the same area one's entire
life, the coaching system is an important contribution. Needless
to say, local people are often enlisted as well. For example,
farmers in all countries, tend to live a bit less hectic and
materialistic than city-dwellers. That former city-dwellers
are often now compelled to do some soil-tilling of their own
is a helpful fact that brings the two worlds a bit closer
together. Nonetheless people from the former regions of poverty
are imported and members from the Zapatista communities are
especially popular as their history of struggle and shining
example of direct democracy provides both inspiration as well
as a dramatic historical context to match their city lives.

Yet people like Elisa have no city in their vicinity. Their
way of life is grounded in a colorful mix of ancient Mayan
tradition and modern hi-tech society. She is a global citizen
with her feet planted firmly in the soil where she was born.
The thought of travelling all the way to West Europe and Eurasia
is a bit mind-boggling for her. She's never flown before.
She walks down the shady path and goes back to her hut. On
the way she passes her youngest child building a tree house
with some friends. One of them throws a mango to her, she
thanks them and walks on while wondering if they have mangos
in Eurasia...

Martin Ekström, 54
Karlstad Collective
Scandinavian Regional Alliance

It's morning. Martin opens his eyes in the bright sunshine
burning through the window. He feels happy and restful knowing
that he doesn't need to wake up to an alarm clock anymore.
Still, he feels a bit resentful that he can't count on having
his morning cup of coffee like he was so used to. Coffee shipments
only come twice a year to the Scandinavian Regional Alliance
and each shipment is then rationed out at the begin-ning of
each month with the majority portion reserved for the cold,
dark months of winter.

Nonetheless, he has a day of activity which he looks forward
to. Martin is part of an eco-data co-op who sells to foreign
computer manufacturing co-ops. He's excited about the shipment
of his latest project which leaves today for Malaysia: compact
degradable plastic derived from corn coated with safe, ecological
alternatives to the flame retardents previously used (such
as TBBA, Trichloretylphosfate, and PBDE) and designed to be
used in the manufacture of computers.

As there is no coffee he opts for a pistachio-apple protein
drink created by some innovative entrepreneurs in Turkey.
This reminds him of the fact that there have been some recent
skirmishes with a Gray Wolves dissident 'state' and he hopes
that all is still well with Zulfu who works at the pistachio
drink collective.
He checks his e-mail before he goes out the door and notices
that the date for Social Pulse conference has been set for
July 21, 2013 in Gdansk, Poland. It's to be a big event and
he plans to take the ScanRail down to Hamburg and then bike
the rest of the way, not because he has to but because it's
summertime and biking is a good way to see that part of Western
Eurasia. He hasn't been down there since before the Great
Fall and thought he'd look up some old acquaintances along
the way. He shuts down the computer and goes out the door
where the notice that says "No Ads" is still posted
as a reminder of how things used to be. On the way out he
passes Hedvig who has a letter for him.

The postal delivery system drops off the mail at each Network
receptory and each community has its own system for getting
the mail to individu-als from that point. Though the tradition
of stamps has largely continued, in an artistic sense more
than a formal sense, all regular mail -under two kilos- is
delivered free of charge (with the exception of certain large
Networks who extract a small fee for the service).

Martin thanks Hedvig and looks at the letter which is covered
with bright red and orange stickers. He notices that it's
from Tennessee and stuffs it into his pocket for a more relaxed
moment in which to read it. He gets out to the corner just
in time to miss the 10:45 electric bus to the station. He
calculates for a minute to think about whether now is a good
time to read the letter or not. Though the next bus comes
in 12 minutes he de-cides to hop on his bike instead.

On the way through the central square he passes a pair of
old men play-ing the huge chess game that has been built as
a permanent part of the square. They're both deep in thought
and seem oblivious to the world around them. Soon he arrives
to the lab where he'll be on clean-up duty with Urban. As
all workers are obligated to clean up their own work-places
he and Urban decided to get it all over with early in the
day and then hook up with the rest of the guys to play Football
at four o'clock.

Cindy is sitting, talking on the phone in front of a poster
of a blue cow also talking on the phone. Next to the cow is
a quote from Marshall MacLuhan: "Stop talking about whether
it is good or bad and start talk-ing about what it means."
She tosses some Subgenius literature on the floor and shuffles
through the rest of the papers on her desk.

"No, the shipment hasn't come in yet. I can't seem to
locate my copy of the order right now but as soon as my computer
is up again I'll give you a call."
She hangs up the phone and goes out to the water fountain
to relieve her headache where she meets Jason. He starts talking
about the party he was at last night -a tribal-techno dance
party where people got naked, painted their bodies, and played
live samba-techno.

Some local artists were showing off some of their latest
robot construc-tions and a couple of off-duty circus artists
started juggling fire. The whole party started out in a warehouse
and then moved out into the street where some of the neighbors
joined in the celebrations while others shouted complaints
from bedroom windows. Cindy breathes a sigh of envy as she
thinks about how she had to spend the evening working.

The phone rings again. It's Mustapha from Brihama, their
sister city in the West Africa Alliance. They've just completed
the building of the steel factory and he wants to know if
she can manage to find a way on the next scheduled air flight
so she can join the opening celebrations.